...on the front of some A.I.'s and T.I.'s that looks almost like a duckbill?

If you look at MAtt Coburn's (excellent) video "Southern Tip of Australia" he has one on his. It looks like it would help a lot in terms of submarining the bow in high winds. Where can I get more information about them?

It's for exactly what you suspect. I know some folks like them, frankly they concern me because a wave over the top or having them go underwater means the bow will be slower to rise back up. I guess I sort of feel that the nature of a kayak sail boat is one where the bow is going to submarine and you are going to get wet. Nature of the beast.

But, to each his own. Do a search under his name and you may be able to find previous threads on the item. You can also try searching under "wave deflector" or similar and maybe find those earlier posts that way.

jerinaldi Its probably important to recognize that the "duckbill" that Matt has used is a nose cone designed for surf skis which are very common in Australia. That means they may not work so well in other sea conditions. There are many kayaks being manufactured now incorporating wave deflection into the bow design. Perhaps the most common is where the top deck of the bow is extended outwards 2-3" to form a lip with a curved under surface - similar to the windrider 17 seen in this picture

Of course the windrider is not a kayak but I have seen similar configurations appearing on newer model (non-sailing) kayaks.

Designing something for most sea conditions and certainly a wave deflector that is safe in rougher seas is quite complex and I am sure Hobie are taking their time to get that right. Of course you can buy the Hobie spray dodger for your spray protection and maybe experiment with weight placement to help reduce the submarining. There are lots of other threads on reducing spray and minimizing the submarine effect so you might find some good discussions with a search on this.

jerinaldi Its probably important to recognize that the "duckbill" that Matt has used is a nose cone designed for surf skis which are very common in Australia. That means they may not work so well in other sea conditions. There are many kayaks being manufactured now incorporating wave deflection into the bow design. Perhaps the most common is where the top deck of the bow is extended outwards 2-3" to form a lip with a curved under surface - similar to the windrider 17 seen in this picture

Of course the windrider is not a kayak but I have seen similar configurations appearing on newer model (non-sailing) kayaks.

Designing something for most sea conditions and certainly a wave deflector that is safe in rougher seas is quite complex and I am sure Hobie are taking their time to get that right. Of course you can buy the Hobie spray dodger for your spray protection and maybe experiment with weight placement to help reduce the submarining. There are lots of other threads on reducing spray and minimizing the submarine effect so you might find some good discussions with a search on this.

Nice Pics aussieonyak.....Talk is cheap!!!...joking.... Watch nose dive during an onshore wind at 3 minute mark......even when the nose is forced under on a nose dive.....boat pulls out sideways.

That's a scary moment Matt - my guess is the same thing likely would have happened without the nose cone surfing that particular wave with it pushing the back end up like it did - that's what I call a "brown pants moment"

I endured several near pitchpoles in my '11 red TI during the 2012 EC300. 40kts of following wind and a wisp of a main up were producing 13kt speeds and frequent nose dives in the standing chop. I think it was the flexibility of my spray skirts that kept me from going ass over tea kettle